Team Twelve
by Andrew Joshua Talon
Summary: Shorts stories about what the Narutoverse would be like if the Rookie Nine were the Rookie Twelve. Original characters, AU.Read and review please.
1. Chapter 1

_What will be a series of drabbles detailing what the Naruto-verse might be like if the Rookie Nine were the Rookie Twelve. Team Twelve is entirely original, and based on people in my life. Just to try and free me of writer's block for my other stories. I would still appreciate reviews though. Thank you, and Merry Christmas everyone!_

* * *

_Team Twelve 1:_

_Aki's story  
_

* * *

  
Down, up, left, left, right, cross... Pagnin Aki nodded at the work on her hand, and checked her watch. She was down to two seconds in drawing up this particular seal.

It still frustrated her that her younger sister had gotten to the same speed only weeks before. Kaylee was, fortunately, not smug about it, she just enjoyed the respect accorded to her by academy faculty. Already talk of another genius in this year of the Konoha Shinobi Academy. Her younger brother, Ryu, had no interest in becoming a ninja and their parents were just fine with it. Unlike other powerful clans, they didn't force their children down their parent's path.

But Aki had always wanted to become a summoner, if for no other reason than to prove her worth. Her younger sister was the prodigy, skipping grades and staying right with her despite being eight years old to her fourteen. Their brother, the middle child, was the cute one who impressed with his kindness. Dai, the bookish eldest, wanted to go further than either, even if it was by hard work.

The sky cried above her, angry clouds jostling and booming as the storm raged. She extended her hand, confident in her family's special seal ink.

The Pagnin were relative newcomers to Konoha, having emigrated from faraway Coastal Country. On the beaches of that ancient land they had perfected the art of sealing the elements, weapons, even animals into chakra-enhanced seals. Rumor had it that a distant branch of the family had created the first techniques to seal demons away. Unlike other clans and families that were famous for their seals, however, the Pagans had developed an entire fighting style based on the techniques.

Lightening flashed again, as a hard wind blew, shaking the tree Aki was currently perched on top of. She sighed, before once more taking the family TV antenna into the hand her seal had been painted on and thrusting it up towards the heavens.

"C'mon already...!"

Kaylee had already managed to summon the water from a swimming pool from her seals. Along with the flames from a bonfire, a thrown kunai (how, Aki still wasn't sure), and even a cloud of smoke.

But there was one thing that no Pagnin had yet managed to seal, and that was a bolt of lightening.

Probaby because every Pagnin before her had more common sense.

"Would you just strike me already!" Aki shouted, waving the antenna around. She usually kept her cool, but she was soaking wet, had scrubbed the same seal off her hands several times now, and had been sitting in a tree for several hours now. 'What do I have to do to get struck by somelightening around here-?'

BOOM! Aki blinked. There had been a bright light, a shock of heat, and yet every seemed the same as before, as thunder rolled above her. Reaching out with her trained senses, she couldn't help the grin that came to her face. Her seal was buzzing with energy, absorbing the power of the storm. She quickly formed the hand seals she'd wanted to use for nearly five days now, and held out her hand.

"_KAIFUU JUTSU: TODOROKI BATSU_!" **BOOM**! A blast of lightening left her hand, blasting apart the tree next to hers. Aki whooped.

"YES! I DID IT! WOO HOO!" Unfortunately, Aki did not notice that the tree she'd taken out was now toppling into her own. She leapt away just before her tree fell, followed by another, and another, and another. Aki cringed.

"Uh oh..."

Naturally unnoticed by the young girl, is the fact that her eyes began glowing white as she released the jutsu. She shivers, feeling as though someone or something is watching her, before she rushes off, hoping that the destruction doesn't attract attention.

It did, but not _human _attention.

Translations:

Aki - Autumn, or bright

kunai - Ninja throwing weapon

Missen No Jutsu - Tightly Sealing Technique

(This jutsu transforms normal matter into concentrated chakra, allowing her to carry it around in the form of "ink", and then unseal it back into it's original form. This jutsu only works on basic matter, like water, air, plasma (fire), and certain solid materials. )

Kaifuu Jutsu: Todoroki Batsu - Broken Seal Technique: Thundering Strike

(It's common in Japanese martial arts to name the technique you use, either mentally or vocally, to focus it better. And to give techniques you create names that tell something of what it is and does. This technique merely acts to break the seal on the lightening bolt and let it loose)


	2. Chapter 2

* * *

_Team Twelve 2:_

_Shiina's story_

* * *

Running was second nature to Ekiden Shiina. Her feet pounded the dirt road beneath her as she sprinted, black hair waving in the wind like a banner announcing her arrival. It was not unnoticed in the trees framing the trail, as tripwires sprang to life before her. 

Duck, handspring, handspring, tuck and roll. Another set emerged, and Shiina gracefully dodged through them as well. Rebounding off a tree trunk she lept clear over the next set of traps, only to meet several machine-launched kunai and additional weapons. She scowled, but a quick application of the Body Flicker Technique allowed her to speed her descent to the ground and avoid them all. Landing in a crouch, she bent over nearly backwards to avoid several more machine-launched blades, before snapping back to a standing position and resuming her run.

Shiina spared enough energy to check her watch, and smiled. Already, she was making her best time yet on the course. She resumed her focus on the path ahead and behind, dodging another series of dangerous traps.

As our protagonist is a bit busy at the moment, it is up to the narrator to fill in the gap of this young ninja's backstory. The Ekidens were a wealthy, but otherwise unremarkable family in Konoha. They had no spectacular bloodlines, no fancy summoning jutsus, no animal companions. They were not scientists or engineers or scholars. They were in the postal business.

Ninja were not all about killing and fighting-A significant percentage of their endeavors went towards civilian matters. And among the least appreciated of these ninja careers was that of the mail ninja. Moving letters, packages, anything between the various cities and nations on the continent was what they did. It was a rough job, including huge stretches of road and wilderness, long hours, and dangers at every turn in particularly wild country. Most other potal ninja were rejects from frontline combat, who could at the very least take care of themselves.

But the Ekidens were different. The founder, Shiina's maternal grandfather, had spared no expense in creating a dedicated mail nin training course for any potential employees. It had everything that could possibly be encountered on a mail run, including wild animals (tigers from the Konoha Wildlife Preserve), hostile ninja (chakra-animated dummies with nasty weaponry), and of course, booby traps.

Other postal companies wondered what Enkiden was thinking, splurging his investments on what they saw as unnessecary. They predicted that the company would fall flat in a few months and go bankrupt.

After Enkidu paid off all his debts in his first few months of operation, his competitors still felt that the new company would be gone relatively soon. The more training you gave your employees, the more you had to pay them after all.

Three years later and Enkidu Postal Services was the top mail service in Konoha. It remained at that spot ever since.

Shiina, however, was not looking to continue in the family business. As the granddaughter of the founder, she'd been given access to the course at her request, but when her mother had found out that she wanted to become a regular ninja rather than take up the family business, she was nearly disowned. Her father had managed to intervene before her rash mother did so, but she was denied the company as her inheritence. Shiina couldn't have been happier.

Several dummies appeared, all armed with swords on the path ahead. Shiina smirked, tightening her gauntlets. Meimei Shitai!

Her steel-knuckles let her smash clean through the head of the first dummy, before angling her body into an axe kick, breaking the shoulder of the next dummy with her steel-heeled boot. She stepped on that dummy and used it to push her forward, two steel and leather guarded fists smashing through two more dummies. Forward flipping once more brought her steel-plated toe into the chest of the last dummy, knocking it to a tree. She resumed running, adjusting the straps on her hand-made boots and gauntlets out of habit.

Taijutsu was what Shiina excelled at. Who needed fancy jutsus and techniques when you could just beat the heck out of anything in your way? Shiina liked to think of herself as a living weapon, and so she'd done and studied everything she could towards that end. So any part of her that could be used offensively, she covered in leather and steel.

She was nearly at the end, her way barred by no less than two dozen armed dummies, all ready to leap and attack. Shiina smirked, gloved hands swiftly forming hand seals.

"_Kasokuundou: Oto no Sokudo_!" She whispered out of habit, saving her breath. Her aura flared bright blue as she suddenly seemed to vanish, leaving only a dust cloud in her wake. The dummies paused, as though confused... Before they were shredded, blasted, and pulverized by a contained sonic boom.

A quarter of a mile away, Shiina stood, leaning her hands against her knees as she tried to catch her breath. She couldn't help but grin as the sonic boom crackled over the forest.

"Not bad," said a familiar voice nearby. She looked up, her father standing in black robes, smiling gently at her. "Fifteen miles in two minutes, thirty-eight seconds." She shrugged, her grin only widening.

"Yeah..."

"Practicing hard?"

"Always." Her father nodded, and turned away.

"Sorry I can't stay long... I just wanted you to know I thought you did well," he said, as he walked towards the company's main complex. Shiina sighed, nodding, before standing up and walking for the exit. If they stayed together any longer, then her mother would find out. It was the price to pay for her dream.

Translations:

Enkiden - Stagecoach (as in for mail. Yes, it's a pun.)

Meimei Shitai: Invisible Body

(This basically means her fighting style is based on moving so fast she can't be hit.)

Kasokuundou: Oto no Sokudo - Accelerated Motion: Speed of Sound

(This technique allows her to move at supersonic speeds just long enough to create a sonic boom and use it as a weapon against a target.)

_R&R_


	3. Chapter 3

* * *

_Team Twelve 3:_

_Tsume's story  
_

* * *

Once more, the two fighters met on the training ground. The clearing was secluded, the midday sun beating down. This was not particularly important to either swordsman, as they faced eachother. One with a smirk, the other with a determined frown.

"Ready to lose?" The one with a smirk asked.

"Always talk, talk, talk," the other replied flatly. "Fight already, _Andoryuu_." The other fighter winced. He preferred to go by his surname, a fact that the smirking fighter enjoyed to taunt him with.

"Fine," the smirking one replied, taking his stance. An instant later and their blades clashed.

* * *

Even in a village with ninja who shared their bodies with bugs, with white eyes that could see through anything, and talking dogs, there are shinobi that are sufficiently unusual to warrant a second glance. Unusual in not their weirdness, but how weird they have made something that should otherwise be normal.

Take swords, for instance. For most ninja, swords were restricted to katanas or short swords. Assasinations and close-range fighting were the order of the day for the elite ranks of the shinobi, the ANBU, and overly large or flashy weapons were a hinderance.

Which brings us to the Tsume family. They were an unusual mix of scholar and warrior. Many were blacksmiths and engineers, ever designing better and more advanced weapons and defenses of steel. Others were physicists, analyzing chakra and using it as a medium by which to examine the fabric of creation. But all of them, were swordsmen/women in some way.

Rapiers and other light sabre-like weapons were used by the scholars and gentlemen, katanas by the members of the family that became ANBU, and for the regular warriors, any number of swords, from massive zanbatos (designed to chop right through horses) to small daggers. Tsume meant "talon", and their love of bladed weapons wielded like the claws of a beast suited them.

But even they had their limits. Like in handing over the family sword to a eight year old boy.

Andoryuu Tsume was the eldest of two brothers, the other being Benji. He had messy brown hair and a bright smile. His mother was in ANBU, while his father was a blacksmith. They were, by all accounts, very happy together.

However, Andoryuu accidentally interfered in one of his mother's assassinations. They had gone to Wave country under the guise of a family vacation, so that Rei (his mother) could take out a crooked merchant selling Konoha secrets when he'd been in their employ.

It was bad luck that Andoryuu happened to be passing the alley, out on his own without permission, when he spotted his mom cornering the target and his bodyguards. He happily called out to her, distracting her long enough for the bodyguards to strike and kill her.

The merchant left the child alive, simply thanking him with a sadistic laugh, leaving Andoryuu to sob over his mother's corpse.

Two years later, at the traditional choosing of the weapon ceremony all members of the Tsume family went through, Andoryuu was led into the armory. He put his hand on every weapon there, searching for one that would synch with his chakra. And he chose the Gensho Tsurugi, the first sword made by the Tsume family.

This seemed at first an accident. The Gensho Tsurugi was a zanbato, that included the provision to summon additional swords for the wielder's use. The first was the largest, a massive sword, easily six feet long and a hundred pounds in weight. It was imbued with a massive amount of chakra, allowing it's wielder to perform devastating attacks with it, ranged and otherwise. However, unlike other swords that linked their chakra to their user's, if the one bonded to the Gensho Tsurugi were to be out of a certain range of their sword, they would soon go into a coma, and die.

It's creator had been a powerful ninja and skilled blacksmith, whose fame and ability carried him many places, far from his comparitively lower class family. When they sent him a message requesting his aid in a dispute with a local daimyo, he ignored it, figuring they could handle it themselves. He returned two months later, to find that the daimyo had slaughtered his entire family for their refusal to fight alongside him in battle. That young warrior, in his grief and guilt, took parts of the six swords his family members had wielded, reforged them, and created the Tsurugi and it's supplementary swords, and used it to slay the daimyo and his entire army. Single-handedly.

In the end, even though he rebuilt his family and brought them to Konoha, his sword was to be a reminder to him of the price he paid for his pride. After he died, the sword only chose those who had suffered great loss. Thus it made sense for the young Andoryuu to have been bonded to the Tsurugi. His guilt over his mother's death called out to the sword, and the sword answered. To act as both a means to prevent it from happening again, and a grim reminder of what he had lost.

Even with a special harness, the eight year old could barely drag himself to school with the Gensho Tsurugi strapped to his back. He was teased for it, and pityed, but he kept going. He trained with the sword until he could wield it like another part of his body, then added the second of six swords. He learned how to wield both at the same time by the time he turned fourteen, an impressive feat given the difficulty of wielding them.

And though he was just a child, and in the wrong place at the wrong time, Andoryuu, called Tsume, still sees his mother every time he lifts his sword. Like now.

"Die!" He shouts, slashing for his younger brother. Benji deflects it with his sleek katana, a smirk on his round features as he leaps up and aims a kick for his brother's head.

"C'mon Ryuu, this the best you can do?" He taunts, the older brother barely shifting his head out of the way of the strike. Benji adjusted his leap, bending forward and rolling behind him. Tsume swung around, cursing as he jabbed furiously after his smaller, nimbler brother. Benji avoided or blocked every blow, his smirk still on his face.

"What's the matter, big brother? Too slow?" He laughed, backflipping once more as Tsume tried to crush him with a hammer blow from the Tsurugi. "My Murasame is too fast for an oaf like you!"

Benji had chosen the Murasame two years ago, and with him it seemed a natural fit. While tall and had rounded features, Benji could wield the blade like a breath of wind the moment he picked it up. Tsume cursed again, leaping above his little brother in an effort to strike him. Benji leapt away once more, shaking his head at such an obvious attack.

"Honestly big brother, what were you thinking? Ken Jutsu: Hiaburi Ken!" His katana burst into flames as Benji charged, now on the offensive. Tsume blocked every swift strike with some effort, moving backwards. Benji grinned. This was the part where he always beat his big brother-He was just too slow with that massive sword. He backflipped right over him, ready to bring the blade to Andoryuu's neck and have him yield once more...

"Tsurugi Jutsu: Bushin Shuuha!" Benji looked up just in time to see Andoryuu above him, swing his sword and unleashing a massive wave of crackling blue energy. The younger brother, surprised, managed to get out of the way just before it connected, but was blown off his feet by the blast as it hit the ground. Benji found himself on his back... And a huge sword under his chin. Above him, Tsume managed not to smirk. A lot.

"Yield?" His little brother glared back, and sighed.

"Yield."

_Translations:_

Gensho Tsurugi - Literally, First Sword

Murasame - Passing Shower/Rain

Ken Jutsu: Hiaburi Ken - Sword Technique: Burning to Death Blade

(Basically converts chakra to fire that surrounds a sword and makes it ultra hot)

Tsurugi Jutsu: Bushin Shuuha - Sword Technique: War God Wave

(Uses the sword to project a wave of destructive chakra. Sent with a swing of the sword.)

_This character is based on several people, including myself. But he's not an SI, or a Mary Sue. I just decided to present a different version of the anime guy with a big-ass sword. R&R_


	4. Chapter 4

Tomu's Story

"Yamanobe Tomu!"

The auburn-haired boy leaned his chair forward, before standing up and lazily making his way down the steps from his desk to the floor of the classroom. There were some sporadic giggles in the class, per usual, at his unusual appearance. His mottle green cowboy hat and ever-present guitar strapped to his back.

The teacher, Umino Iruka, crossed his arms and gave the young boy a stern look. He was dressed in the traditional green fatigues and vest of Konoha chuunin, and over his short brown hair was a dark blue bandana. His tanned face held a horizontal scar across his nose, which belied a stern but genuinely benign personality. He tapped his foot.

"Exactly why have you failed to turn in your homework, again?" Tomu blinked.

"But I have done my homework, Iruka-sensei."

"Then where is it? You were supposed to cite an example of a B-rank jutsu!" Iruka growled.

Tomu shrugged. "It's easier just to show you." The laughter began again. Tomu Yamanobe? Lazy to a fault? Able to use an advanced jutsu?

Iruka sighed, rubbed the scar over his nose. "Tomu, I really don't see how you could do such a technique."

"Then don't see. Listen," Tomu explained confidently, pulling his guitar from his back and making a few handseals. Iruka recognized some of the seals (and the glowing of Tomu's hand) far too late.

"Wait Tomu-!"

The chord seemed to reverberate through his very bones. He was blasted back by an intense pressure wave, as the rest of the children in the classroom shrieked, covering their ears. A few seconds passed before the sound tapered off into silence once more. Iruka blinked, sitting against the wall.

Every child had been knocked to the floor, every window in the classroom opened, and every paper and scroll missing. Tomu grinned, and made the victory sign.

"Cool huh? I call it Gitar Shokkuueibu, Ittou! Took me a week, but I managed to create it! Do I, like, get extra points for that?"

And that set the tone for the rest of Tomu Yamanobe's ninja career. Lazy, yet brilliant. And somewhat bizarre as well. By the time he was ten, he'd made chuunin. Most ninja didn't make chuunin until they were in their early to mid teens. By that time, he made special jounin.

After that though, he didn't advance in rank. He did his missions, played at Konoha concerts, hung out with his best friend Piito, and walked about as carefree and easily as he had the day he could walk.

He wields his guitar with the same skill as a samurai with his blade, his enemies falling in silent screams from his strokes. He can bring silence with his instrument, allowing his team to get through an enemy's defenses with ease, or he can lay waste to those same defenses, soundwaves blowing apart walls and men as he stands there, a virtual god of rock and roll.

And yet, after every mission, after every enemy has been slain and the client saved, he plays a song for the dead. Then he bows, and heads back for home.

He is friends with Ibiki Morino, Konoha's best torture and interrogation expert.

No one knows why.

Translations:

Yamanobe - Mountain field, more or less.

Gitar Shokkuueibu, Gentou - Guitar Soundwave, First Position


	5. Chapter 5

_Last chapter was a random interlude for a character who will eventually play a bigger role in the story. But now, onto the last member of Team 12._

* * *

_Team Twelve 4:_

_Jen's story_

* * *

Inrou Jen, at first glance, appeared to be little more than a normal, civilian housewife, which was partially true. The lithe, auburn-haired woman favored plain, dark blue kimonos with dull white sashes as her main dress, with previously said hair done up in a bun. Her wooden zoori and white socks, combined with her slow, graceful style of walking, further seemed to suggest nothing out of the ordinary.

Which was the point. While Jen was indeed a wife and mother to two darling little children, she was also a Jounin-rank med-nin, the third-highest possible rank in the shinobi world (only surpassed by Sannin and Hokage). Not only that, but her combat record was nothing short of spectacular, having completed nearly three dozen S-rank missions and six dozen A-rank missions over the course of her career. With only the forehead protector across her brow signifying her status as a shinobi, she'd been dubbed (derisively at first, but now with near-reverent awe) the Housewife Ninja.

And the Housewife Ninja was not in a good mood.

"I'm going to kill him," she seethed, leaping over the rooftops towards the Hokage tower, the tallest and best defended installation in Konoha. It served as the office and headquarters of the Hokage and the ANBU special forces, responsible for managing any and all activities of the ninja serving the Leaf.

Jen landed on the upper balcony of the tower, her eyes practically burning with fury. She stalked into the tower itself, her zoori barely making any noise on the carpeted floor. The ANBU guards noted this and chose not to stop the woman. When Inrou Jen was making noise, it was best not to interfere.

"Excuse me ma'am, you can't just-AUUUGHHHH!"

CRASH! The more experienced ANBU sighed behind their animal-like masks.

'Newbie,' they thought, half pity and half disbelief.

The Third Hokage was well into his eighties. He'd originally retired and handed his office over to the Fourth Hokage, a brilliant young man with blond hair and a strong, vibrant soul. Alas, the Fourth Hokage's dedication to Konoha and it's people cost him his life against the Kyuubi, and so the Third resumed his post, twelve additional years past his original retirement.

As such, he made no show of surprise when Inrou Jen burst into his office through the double doors. He would have appreciated it if she hadn't knocked the doors off their hinges though.

"Hokage-sama," Inou stated, in a sweet voice practically dripping with venom, "we REALLY need to talk."

The room's sole other occupant poked his head over the orange book he was reading. His standard-issue Konoha forehead protector was at an angle, covering his left eye, while a mask covered in face up to the bridge of his nose. Only his messy grey hair and right eye were visible, and that lone eye scrutinized the Housewife Ninja with a dull expression.

"Inou," greeted the Copy Ninja Hatake Kakashi lazily. Inou's right eye twitched.

"Hatake," she got out through clenched teeth. She then turned to the Hokage.

"Inou, I know what you're going to say-" The Sandaime began.

"Then I'll say it anyway! How could you give Hatake Kakashi, the laziest, most irresponsible ninja in the entirety of THIS VILLAGE the instructor position for TEAM SEVEN?!" Inou roared. Hatake's single visible eye closed in his version of a smile as he put one of his hands behind his head, rubbing sheepishly. The Hokage coughed.

"Because Kakashi is the only member of this village with an active Sharingan, and Uchiha Sasuke needs to be instructed in the use of his family's bloodline," the Hokage responded.

"Oh, by ALL MEANS, let's let the boy with a superiority complex a MILE WIDE, with an obsession to get revenge for the death of his family overriding all other concerns, and a potentially unstable personality be TAUGHT how to KILL PEOPLE by THIS LAZY BUM!" Inou seethed. THe Hokage sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Jen-"

"Oh, and by all means, let Naruto Uzumaki, who has been isolated, hated, and alone MOST of his life by this village for SOMETHING you've banned from EVER being discussed, EVEN TO HIM! ALSO be taught by this bastard!" Jen turned on Kakashi and shot him a glare, her fingers working behind her back to cast a mild jutsu that made her eyes appear to be glowing red. Kakashi coughed nervously at this.

"I will give all three of my students the attention and care-"

"LIKE HELL YOU WILL! I know you, Hatake! Even with that mask I can read you like a book! You'll favor Sasuke, inflating his already out of control ego, and neglect the other members of the team! Even though some might say you OWE Uzumaki because of who your SENSEI was!" Kakashi's easygoing manner vanished in an instant, to be replaced by cold anger. The tell-tale sound of electricity crackling could be heard, as the Copy Nin glared at the Housewife Nin.

"Don't go there," Kakashi said, quiet anger in his tone. Inou glared right back.

"Why not? It's about time SOMEONE confronted this!"

"You may be able to read into my heart, Inou, but what I do with it is MY business, not yours," Kakashi responded, still quiet but with a thundercloud of fury behind his words. Inou's anger remained firm, as she leaned her hand provocatively against her fan.

"Not when it involves lives going under your instruction, and PROTECTION, Hatake," Jen returned flatly, her anger tempered into dangerous but focused killing intent that made the room temperature drop noticeably. "They don't deserve to be sacrafices to YOUR ego OR guilt."

"Enough!" Sarutobi stated, dignified anger in his speech that made both nin look back at him. "I will not have two of my best jounins fighting in my office! Back off, both of you!" Her eyes still locked on Kakashi, Inou tucked her battlefan back into her robe's sash, as the sound of lightening crackling ceased and Kakashi resumed looking at his book. The Hokahe sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"We've been over this several times, Jen-"

"And we'll be going over it SEVERAL MORE TIMES, until you finally come to your senses! Look, Hokage-Let me instruct Team 7. Hatake can instruct the Uchiha in the use of his bloodline on a part-time basis. It should appeal to him-Less work to do," Inou stated, eyes narrowing a bit more at the Copy Nin. Kakashi's lone visible eye narrowed back, as if in challenge.

"No. Inou, you have been assigned your own team, you will instruct them. And I have faith in Kakashi's ability to teach. The decision is FINAL, Inou, and I'm sorry, but I cannot go back on every decision I make now can I?" Sarutobi sighed. "Besides... The Council was reluctant to even allow Naruto to be a ninja. They would allow him on a team provided that the instructor was powerful enough to deal with him should..." THe Hokage left it at that. Inou snarled.

"THAT'S BULLSHIT! How could they doubt the Fourth so badly? Oh wait, it MUST be easy to do since they've ignored his LAST REQUEST ever since the attack!" The Hokage sighed. At the time, making it a crime to speak about the Fourth's sacrafice, and Naruto's, had seemed prudent. The fewer people who knew that the Fourth Hokage had sealed the Kyuubi, the most powerful demon on the continent, the one that had single-handedly nearly destroyed Konoha twelve years ago, into a child, the better. Naruto Uzumaki would hold the Kyuubi prisoner in his own body until the day he died, and when that happened, both demon and container would die, bringing a final end to the menace of the Nine-Tailed Fox.

Aside from that however, Naruto was no different from any other child. The Fox did not directly influence Naruto's mind, and it's presence within him had the potential to make Naruto very powerful, as the Fox was forced to protect his jailor lest he died with Naruto in a violent situation. Saruobi smiled fondly of his surrogate grandson, how under the mischeif and pranks he pulled he was kind, loyal, honest, and brave.

But the villagers refused to see that. Hell, the number of times Naruto's life had almost been taken was enormous. The daily abuse he had suffered-The looks, the unfair treatment in shops and businesses, the social isolation-It was a wonder the boy hadn't grown up into a psychopathic killer. But no, the boy kept trying to become a ninja, kept announcing and working towards his goal of someday becoming Hokage himself, to show everyone that he wasn't a demon.

It nearly broke his heart... But as Hokage, the fact that his word was law was a double edged sword. He could not rescind some orders, and the Ruling Council of the village held him in check in many ways. This was one of them.

"Jen... Hatake will instruct Team 7. And you have Team 12. You cannot be of two minds about this. You must focus on the task given to you. These children need YOU now." Jen sagged, her teeth gritted. She nodded stiffly, before bowing.

"Hokage-sama," she stated, quietly and respectfully, as she departed. Sarutobi sighed, noticing that Kakashi too had left.

Naruto... I hope that when you become Hokage, you do not make the same mistakes that I have...

Five days later...

"Here to rub it in?"

Kakashi blinked, and shook his head, a wry smile forming under his mask as he leapt out of the tree he had been hiding in. Jen was standing at the edge of one of Konoha's numerous training fields, this one labeled number fifteen. In the clearing ahead, three young genin were training.

The first was a surprisingly developed girl, with long brown hair done up in a tie that resembled a dolphin's tail under her blue bandanna and forehead protector. Her dark blue hooded sweatshit and tan pants had a passing resemblance to the attire favored by Uchiha Sasuke. Her feet, hands, arms, and knees were protected in rough-looking leather and steel bands, straps, and plates. She was practicing acrobatics, flipping, tumbling, and spinning in the air over the sections of ground and rock appearing and jutting out below her.

The source of these obstacles was a lithe, bronze-skinned girl with her shoulder-length hair done in two lowtails behind her shoulders. Her forehead protector was tied around her neck, a common style for many kunoichi (female ninja) these days. Under a tan jacket, purple tanktop, and green shorts she wore a fishnet body sock, providing greater protection should an attack get through her defenses. By the seal glowing on her hand she was a member of the Pagnin clan, and from the way the ground around her moved with her taijutsu stances and gestures she was using a summoning contract with a force of the earth. The Pagnins were unique in combing such techniques with their taijutsu, turning air, fire, lightening, water, and the earth itself into extensions of their kicks, punches, and other movements.

The third child was moving through the obstacle course, only with a more direct approach. The twelve year old looked barely over five feet tall, and yet was handling a sword nearly as long with incredible precision and speed. His wavy brown hair and bright eyes seemed out of place for a serious swordsman, but every strike made with his massive weapon spoke of forethought and experience. His garments were dark-Black jacket, dull gray undershirt, black shorts, and leather gauntlets, gloves, and harness. His forehead protector had been stitched into the chest strap of his sword harness, covering his heart as he bobbed, weaved, and sliced his way through.

"No." Kakashi returned at last. He nodded in approval as the long-haired girl in blue was knocked back by a blast of earth, but the boy with the sword used the flat of his weapon to catch her. She kicked off the sword, slamming both fists through the tower of soil that had attacked her. "They seem to be working together well already."

"To a point," Jen stated quietly. "Shiina was fighting the others when I first got here, trying to get them to stop being such 'wusses'. I had one of the giant combat dummies attack." Kakashi winced. Those dummies were loaded with automated weapons, including kunai launchers, shuriken shooters, and flamethrowers.

"Tsume tried to fight it himself, get the others out of the way. Shiina refused, tried fighting it on her own, and NEARLY got maimed if Tsume hadn't taken the hit for her." Jen smiled slightly. "I've got to break Tsume of doing that so much." Kakashi hummed.

"Self-hating, self-sacrificing type?" Jen nodded.

"The same. Aki managed to slow it down enough for Shiina to drag Tsume out of range. They came up with a plan to take it down, using Tsume as wounded bait. And it worked." Inou smirked. "Aki was the first to figure out it was some kind of test of teamwork, so they gave it their all. I treated them to lunch after."

"Hmph. Took my genins til mid-day to figure out my test," Kakashi sighed. "Sakura's a complete fangirl for Sasuke and abuses Naruto, while Sasuke kept trying to do everything himself, regarding the others of his team as liabilities. And Naruto, well... He was the first to get it, but he had to beat his head against the problem several times to do so."

Jen smirked.

"Don't tell me you want to trade already?" Kakashi smirked right back.

"Never."

TBC!


End file.
